Probes with self-cleaning blunt skates for contacting conductive pads

ABSTRACT

A probe having a conductive body and a contacting tip that is terminated by one or more blunt skates for engaging a conductive pad of a device under test (DUT) for performing electrical testing. The contacting tip has a certain width and the blunt skate is narrower than the tip width. The skate is aligned along a scrub direction and also has a certain curvature along the scrub direction such that it may undergo both a scrub motion and a self-cleaning rotation upon application of a contact force between the skate and the conductive pad. While the scrub motion clears oxide from the pad to establish electrical contact, the rotation removes debris from the skate and thus preserves a low contact resistance between the skate and the pad. The use of probes with one or more blunt skates and methods of using such self-cleaning probes are especially advantageous when testing DUTs with low-K conductive pads or other mechanically fragile pads that tend to be damaged by large contact force concentration.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/850,921 filed on May 21, 2004, U.S. application Ser. No. 10/888,347 filed on Jul. 9, 2004 and U.S. application Ser. No. 11/450,977 filed on Jun. 9, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to probes for testing devices under test (DUTs), and in particular to probes with contacting tips terminated in blunt skates to promote self-cleaning on contact with contacting pads as well as self-cleaning methods.

BACKGROUND ART

The testing of semiconductor wafers and other types of integrated circuits (ICs), collectively known as devices under test (DUTs), needs to keep pace with technological advances. Each IC has to be individually tested, typically before dicing, in order to ensure that it is functioning properly. The demand for testing products is driven by two considerations: new chip designs and higher volumes. As chips become increasingly powerful and complicated, the need for high-speed probe card devices to test them becomes more and more deeply felt.

In particular, chips are getting smaller and they have more tightly spaced conductive pads. The pads are no longer located about the circuit perimeter, but in some designs may be found within the area occupied by the circuit itself. As a result, the density of leads carrying test signals to the pads is increasing. The pads themselves are getting thinner and more susceptible to damage during a test. Meanwhile, the need to establish reliable electrical contact with each of the pads remains.

A well-known prior art solution to establishing reliable electrical contact between a probe and a pad of a DUT involves the use of probes that execute a scrub motion on the pad. The scrub motion removes the accumulated oxide layer and any dirt or debris that acts as an insulator and thus reduces contact resistance between the probe and the pad. For information about corresponding probe designs and scrub motion mechanics the reader is referred to U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,571 to Karasawa; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,773,987 and 6,433,571 both to Montoya; U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,323 to Throssel and U.S. Appl. 2006/0082380 to Tanioka et al. Additional information about the probe-oxide-semiconductor interface is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,691 to Verkuil.

In order to better control the scrub motion, it is possible to vary the geometry of the contacting tip of the probe. For example, the radius of curvature of the tip may be adjusted. In fact, several different radii of curvature can be used at different positions along the probe tip. For additional information about probe tips with variable radii of curvature the reader is referred to U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,176 and U.S. Appl. 2005/0189955 both to Takemoto et al.

Although the above-discussed prior art apparatus and methods provide a number of solutions, their applications when testing conductive pads that are thin or prone to mechanical damage due to, e.g., their thickness or softness is limited. For example, the above probes and scrub methods are not effective when testing DUTs with low-K conductive pads made of aluminum because such pads are especially prone to damage by probes with tips that either cut through the aluminum or introduce localized stress that causes fractures. In fact, a prior art solution presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,842,023 to Yoshida et al. employs contact probe whose tip tapers to a sloping blade or chisel. The use of this type of probe causes a knife edge and/or single point of contact effects to take place at the tip-pad interface. These effects can causes irreversible damage to pads, especially low-K conductive pads made of aluminum or soft metal. On the other hand, when insufficient contact force is applied between the probe tip and the pad, then the oxide and any debris at the probe-pad interface will not be efficiently removed.

The problem of establishing reliable electrical contact with fragile conductive pads remains. It would be an advance in the art to provide are probes that can execute effective scrubbing motion and are self-cleaning, while at the same time they do not cause high stress concentration in the pad. Such probes need to be adapted to probe cards for testing densely spaced pads.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

In view of the above prior art limitations, it is an object of the invention to provide probes that are self-cleaning upon contact and avoid long-term accumulation of debris to thus preserve their ability to establish good electrical contact or low contact resistance R_(c).

It is a further object of the invention to provide probes that reduce mechanical stress concentration in the pads of the DUT being tested to render the probes suitable for testing low-K conductive pads.

A still further object of the invention is to provide probes and self-cleaning methods that can be applied in various probe geometries, probe cards and test arrangements.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the ensuing description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objects and advantages of the invention are secured by a probe designed for engaging a conductive pad of a device under test (DUT). The probe has an electrically conductive body that ends in a contacting tip of a certain tip width. At least one blunt skate that is narrower than the tip width terminates the contacting tip. The blunt skate is aligned along a scrub direction and also has a certain curvature along the scrub direction to produce a self-cleaning rotation or rocking motion. As a result of the alignment and skate geometry, once a contact force is applied between the blunt skate and the conductive pad the skate undergoes a scrub motion along the scrub direction and also a self-cleaning rotation. While the scrub motion clears oxide from the pad to establish electrical contact, the rotation removes debris from the skate and thus preserves low contact resistance between the skate and the pad.

To promote the self-cleaning rotation the curvature of the blunt skate needs to have an appropriate radius of curvature. Preferably, the radius of curvature is variable and decreasing towards the front of the skate. Since the skate is preferably symmetric about a midpoint, the same variable radius of curvature can be used in the back half of the skate. In one embodiment the cross-section of the blunt skate is flat and in another it has a rounded cross-section. In general, it is preferable that the skate have a width of less than 12 μm and a length of less than 75 μm. It should be noted that probes with blunt skates in this dimensional range are very well-suited for contacting DUTs with low-K conductive pads that are mechanically fragile.

In some embodiments the probe is made of material layers. Such layers can be grown, e.g., in a deposition process. In these embodiments the blunt skate can be formed from an extension of one of the material layers. The most appropriate material layer for forming a blunt skate from its extension is a hard conductive material such as rhodium or cobalt. In either the layered probe embodiments or still other embodiments it is possible to provide two or more blunt skates. The skates can be arranged parallel to each other. Alternatively, or in addition the skates can be staggered along the scrub direction.

The invention further extends to a method for engaging probes that have conductive bodies and contacting tips terminating in one or more blunt skates with a conductive pad. The skate or skates are narrower than the tip width. The skate or skates are provided with a curvature aligned along the scrub direction for producing the self-cleaning rotation. The application of a contact force between the skate and the conductive pad causes the skate to undergo a scrub motion along the scrub direction and a self-cleaning rotation that removes debris. The debris is usually accumulated during previous engagements with or touch-downs on pads and its removal from the skate preserves low contact resistance.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the method, the contact force is augmented to increase the self-cleaning rotation. This can be done whenever excess debris accumulates. Typically this will take place after several cycles, and thus the contact force can be augmented after two or more touch-down cycles to augment the self-cleaning rotation.

To perform a test, a test current i is applied to the probe after applying the contact force. This means that the skate delivers the test current i to the pad after performing the scrub motion that removes any oxide from the pad and establishing electrical contact with it. Note that no current is applied when performing increased self-cleaning rotation of the skate. The same method is applied when two or more parallel and/or staggered skates are used.

The probes of invention can be used in various apparatus and situations. For example, the probes can be used in a probe card for testing devices under test (DUTs) such as semiconductor wafers. The probe card requires appropriate design and devices, such as a source for delivering the test current i as well as arrangements for providing the overdrive to apply the contact force between the probes and the pads of the DUT.

A detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention is presented below in reference to the appended drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a portion of a probe card employing probes with blunt skates according to the invention.

FIG. 2A is a plan side view of a contacting tip of a single probe from FIG. 1 equipped with a blunt skate.

FIG. 2B is a front cross-sectional view of the contacting tip of the single probe from FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A-D are three-dimensional views of the successive steps in engaging a blunt skate with a low-K conductive pad.

FIG. 4 (prior art) is a graph of contact resistance R_(c) between a typical flat contacting tip and a conductive pad as a function of touch-down cycles.

FIG. 5 is a graph of contact resistance R_(c) between a contacting tip equipped with a blunt skate in accordance with the invention and a conductive pad.

FIG. 6 is a diagram comparing the performance of a prior art chisel tip and a tip with a blunt skate in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 7A-D are three-dimensional views of alternative probe tips with one or more blunt skates according to the invention.

FIG. 8A-B are microscope images of a preferred blunt skate prior to use and after one million touch-down cycles.

DETAILLED DESCRIPTION

A portion of a probe card assembly 100 employing probes 102 according to the invention is shown in FIG. 1. Assembly 100 has a block 104 for holding probes 102 by their contact ends 106. A space transformer, electromechanical arrangements as well as a source for providing a test current i to be applied to contact ends 106 are not shown in this drawing for reasons of clarity.

Probes 102 have electrically conductive bodies 108 that end in contacting tips 110 of a tip width 112. Bodies 108 have suitable mechanical properties for engaging with conductive pads or bumps of a device under test (DUT). For example, bodies 108 can be straight, bent or have more complex geometries to ensure sufficient mechanical strength and compliance, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. In fact, although probes 102 have bodies 108 that are bent in the present embodiment, the invention can be practiced with probes of any geometry.

Tips 110 terminate in blunt skates 114 that are narrower than tip width 112. In fact, skate width 116 is typically a fraction of tip width 112. For example, tip width 112 can be on the order of 75 μm while skate width 116 is about 12 μm or less. Skates 114 are aligned along a scrub direction 120 indicated by an arrow.

As better shown in the plan side view of FIG. 2A, each blunt skate 114 has a certain curvature along scrub direction 120. In other words, the ridge of skate 114 that is aligned with scrub direction 120 has a certain curvature along that direction. The curvature is defined in such a way as to produce a self-cleaning rotation sometimes also referred to as pivoting or rocking motion of skate 114. In the present embodiment, the curvature has a variable radius of curvature R that decreases toward a front 122 of skate 114. More specifically, the radius of curvature has a small value R_(m) at front 122 and a larger value R_(n) near the center of skate 114.

Skate 114 in the present embodiment is symmetric about a center line 124 that passes through a midpoint 126 of skate 114. Therefore, the same variable radius of curvature is found in the back half of skate 114. It is important that the curvature at every point along skate 114 that will engage with a pad is sufficiently large to avoid single point of contact or knife edge effects. These effects cause large amounts of local stress to develop in the pad and in the case of low-K pads can cause damage. Such effects are especially likely to develop along skate 114 at front and back regions, such as region 128 indicated in hatching. To further help avoid these effects, the cross-section of skate 114 has a rounded rather than a flat cross section, as better visualized in the front cross-sectional view of FIG. 2B.

The operation of probes 102 will be explained in reference to the three-dimensional views shown in FIGS. 3A-D. In FIG. 3A contacting tip 110 with blunt skate 114 is positioned above a conductive pad 130 of a device under test (DUT) 132. Only a portion of DUT 132 is shown for clarity. In this position, no test current i is applied (i=O) to probe 102.

It is understood that DUT 132 can be any device that requires electrical testing including, for example, a semiconductor wafer bearing integrated circuits. Also., it is understood that pad 130 can have any geometry and can also be in the form of a solder bump or any other form suitable for establishing electrical contact. In the present embodiment pad 130 is a low-K conductive pad.

In FIG. 3B a contact force F_(c) is applied between blunt skate 114 and low-K conductive pad 130. This force can be delivered by any suitable mechanism well-known to an artisan skilled in the art. At this time, there is still no test current applied (i=0).

FIG. 3C illustrates how tip 110 pivots and skate 114 performs a scrub motion along scrub direction 120. The scrub motion is caused by a scrub force F_(s1) that is due to contact force F_(c). The purpose of scrub motion of skate 114 is to clear oxide from pad 130 to establish electrical contact between skate 114 and pad 130. The alignment of skate 114 with scrub direction 120 and the geometry of skate 114, namely its curvature causes the scrub motion to be accompanied by a self-cleaning rotation or pivoting of skate 114.

The self-cleaning rotation removes debris 134 that is accumulated on skate 114 or that is originally located on pad 130 from skate 114. Typically, debris 134 accumulates on skate 114 during previous engagements with or touch-downs on pads. The self-cleaning rotation pushes debris 134 to the back and off the sides of skate 114. Removal of debris 134 from the skate-pad interface enables a low contact resistance R_(c) to be preserved between skate 114 and pad 130. Once such low contact resistance R_(c) has been established, a test current i=i_(o) is applied to pad 130.

FIG. 3D shows the effects of augmenting contact force F_(c) to further increase the self-cleaning rotation of skate 114. This can be done whenever excess of debris 134 accumulates on skate 114. In a preferred embodiment of the method of invention, contact force F_(c) is augmented after a certain number of touch-down cycles or whenever the contact resistance is observed to reach unacceptable levels. This may occur after two or more touch-down cycles or when resuming testing after a long stand-by period. Note that the resultant scrub force F_(s2) is larger as a result of the increased contact force F_(c) and that no test current (i=0) is applied during this procedure.

A graph 140 in FIG. 4 shows the contact resistance R_(c) between a typical flat prior art contacting tip and a conductive pad as a function of touch-down cycles. Clearly, contact resistance R_(c) increases from a nominal value R_(o) of about 1 Ω as a function of cycles n. The slope of the increase grows as a function of n until reaching a maximum resistance R_(max). Testing the pads becomes impossible once contact resistance R_(c) reaches R_(max). At this point, the prior art tips are sanded down to remove debris and recover nominal contact resistance R_(o). This corresponds to the dashed portion 142 of graph 140. Unfortunately, sanding down accelerates the accumulation of debris on the tip. This causes the slope of contact resistance increase to become steeper and reach the unacceptably high value R_(max) even sooner. Another sanding denoted by dashed portion 144 is required to again recover nominal resistance R_(o).

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary graph 150, of contact resistance R_(c) between contacting tip 110 with blunt skate 114 in accordance with the invention and a conductive pad. As contact resistance R_(c) increases from nominal value R_(o), the self-cleaning rotation of skate 114 tends to restore it to R_(o). In some cases no additional intervention is necessary. If R_(c) does begin to grow too much and an immediate decrease of contact resistance R_(c) is desired, then the contact force F_(c) is augmented to increase the self-cleaning rotation of skate 114. Portions 152 of graph 150 visualize the corresponding reductions of contact resistance R_(c) to nominal value R_(o).

FIG. 6 shows a comparison in the concentration of mechanical stress caused in low-K conductive pad 130 by a prior art chisel probe tip 160 and a blunt skate 162 with a flat cross-section in accordance with the present invention. Pad 130 is made of aluminum and both tip 160 and skate 162 are made of Rhodium. Chisel 160 has a 60 degree taper angle, a 2 mil radius at its contact tip and is 60 μm long. Skate 162 is 10 μm wide, its ends are rounded with a 10 mil radius of curvature and it is also 60 μm long. The contact force F_(c) applied in each case is 8 g. The stress caused by prior art chisel tip 160 is very large and concentrated in the middle of pad 130. This causes mechanical failure of pad 130 by fracture. In contrast, the stress is well-distributed when blunt skate 114 according to the invention is used to establish electrical contact with pad 130.

Various types of probes can employ blunt skates according to the invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 7A-D. In some embodiments a probe 200 is made of several material layers 202, 204, 206, as illustrated in FIG. 7A. Such layers can be grown, e.g., in a deposition process. In these embodiments a blunt skate 208 can be formed at a tip 210 from an extension of one of the material layers. In the embodiment shown, it is the extension of the central or sandwiched material layer 204 that forms skate 208. The most appropriate material layer for forming a blunt skate from its extension is a hard conductive material such as rhodium or cobalt. In fact, material layer 204 is made of rhodium in the present embodiment. In alternative probes having more layers extensions of other than central layers can be used. In fact, even the outer-most layers may be extended to form blunt skates according to the invention.

FIG. 7B illustrates a probe 220 with a laser machined blunt skate 222. For example, skate 222 has a higher aspect ratio than previous skates and also a single radius of curvature. Such geometry can be employed when relatively short scrub motion is imposed by a higher pitch of conductive pads. In fact, the curvature of skate 222 can be adjusted in concert with the characteristics of the scrub motion as conditioned by the geometry of the probe. These characteristics may include, among other, scrub length, scrub depth and scrub velocity.

In either the layered probe embodiments or still other embodiments it is possible to provide two or more blunt skates, as illustrated by probe 230 of FIG. 7C. Probe 230 is made of three material layers 232, 234, 236 and of those the side layers 232, 236 are extended to form blunt skates 238, 240. Skates 238, 240 are arranged parallel to each other and along the scrub direction. Of course, more than two skates 238, 240 can be accommodated on the tip of a probe when more material layers are available.

Still another alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 7D. Probe 250 shown here has five material layers 252, 254, 256, 258 and 260 with layers 252, 256 and 260 being extended. Three blunt skates 262, 264, 266 are formed from extensions of layers 252, 256, 260. These skates are also parallel to each other, but in addition they are staggered along the scrub direction.

A person skilled in the art will appreciate that various other combinations of skates are possible. In addition, the blunt skates can be employed at the tips of various types of probes, including probes that are linear or bent. For example, zig-zag probes, S-shaped probes or probes with a knee can employ one or more blunt skates each to improve contact resistance with the pads of the DUTs. Also, when equipped with the blunt skates of the invention, these probes can be used to contact more fragile conductive pads, e.g., very thin pads or pads that use relatively soft metals.

FIGS. 8A-B are microscope images of a preferred embodiment of a blunt skate that has a rounded cross-section, similar to the skate described in FIG. 2. FIG. 8A shows the skate prior to use and FIG. 8B shows it after one million touch-down cycles. The skate has a width of about 10 μm and a length of 200 μm. Note how the skate is free of debris even after the one million touch-down cycles. In fact, the debris has a tendency to be pushed off to the sides of the skate and attach to non-critical portions of the probe tip.

The probe card requires appropriate design and devices, such as a source for delivering the test current i as well as arrangements for providing the overdrive to apply the contact force between the probes and the pads of the DUT. The design of probe cards as well as the aforementioned devices are well-known to those skilled in the art. It will be appreciated by those skilled artisans that probes equipped with blunt skates in according to the invention can be employed in probe cards of various designs, including probe cards with and without space transformers. The probes themselves can be removable in embodiments that use space transformers or they can be permanently attached using soldering techniques or mechanical locking such as press fit into a conductive via.

The probes of invention are thus very versatile and are able to establish reliable electrical contact with even densely spaced fragile conductive pads or low-K pads. The pads can be arranged in accordance with various geometries, including dense arrays. They are able to do that because the combined scrub motion and self-cleaning rotation of the blunt skate does not cause a high stress concentration in the pad. Due to the large number of possible variations and types of probes that employ blunt skates, the scope of the invention should be judged by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. 

1. A probe for engaging a conductive pad, said probe comprising: a) a conductive body; b) a contacting tip having a tip width; c) at least one blunt skate narrower than said tip width terminating said contacting tip, said at least one blunt skate being aligned along a scrub direction and having a curvature along said scrub direction for producing a self-cleaning rotation; whereby a contact force applied between said at least one blunt skate and said conductive pad produces a scrub motion of said at least one blunt skate along said scrub direction and said self-cleaning rotation that removes debris from said at least one blunt skate, thereby preserving low contact resistance.
 2. The probe of claim. 1, wherein said curvature has a variable radius of curvature.
 3. The probe of claim 2, wherein said variable radius of curvature decreases towards the front of said at least one blunt skate.
 4. The probe of claim 2, wherein said variable radius of curvature is symmetric about a midpoint of said at least one blunt skate.
 5. The probe of claim 1, wherein said at least one blunt skate has a rounded cross-section.
 6. The probe of claim 1, wherein said at least one blunt skate has a width of less than 12 μm.
 7. The probe of claim 1, wherein said at least one blunt skate has a length of less than 75 μm.
 8. The probe of claim 1, wherein said conductive body and said contacting tip comprise material layers.
 9. The probe of claim 8, wherein said at least one blunt skate is formed from an extension of one of said material layers.
 10. The probe of claim 9, wherein said one of said material layers having said extension that forms said at least one blunt skate is made of a material selected from the group consisting of rhodium and cobalt.
 11. The probe of claim 1, wherein said at least one blunt skate comprises at least two blunt skates that are parallel.
 12. The probe of claim 1, wherein said at least one blunt skate comprises at least two blunt skates that are staggered along said scrub direction.
 13. The probe of claim 1, wherein said conductive pad is a low-K conductive pad.
 14. A method for engaging a conductive pad with a probe having a conductive body and a contacting tip, said method comprising: a) terminating said contacting tip with at least one blunt skate narrower than a tip width of said contacting tip; b) providing said at least one blunt skate with a curvature aligned along a scrub direction for producing a self-cleaning rotation; c) applying a contact force between said at least one blunt skate and said conductive pad such that said at least one blunt skate undergoes a scrub motion along said scrub direction and said self-cleaning rotation that removes debris from said at least one blunt skate, thereby preserving low contact resistance.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising augmenting said self-cleaning rotation by increasing said contact force.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein said augmenting of said self-cleaning rotation is performed after at least two touch-down cycles.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein a test current i is applied after applying said contact force.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein said at least one blunt skate comprises at least two blunt skates that are parallel.
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein said at least one blunt skate comprises at least two blunt skates that are staggered along said scrub direction.
 20. A probe card with probes for engaging a conductive pads of a device under test, each of said probes comprising: a) a conductive body; b) a contacting tip having a tip width; c) at least one blunt skate narrower than said tip width terminating said contacting tip, said at least one blunt skate being aligned along a scrub direction and having a curvature along said scrub direction for producing a self-cleaning rotation; whereby a contact force applied between said at least one blunt skate and said conductive pad produces a scrub motion of said at least one blunt skate along said scrub direction and said self-cleaning rotation that removes debris from said at least one blunt skate, thereby preserving low contact resistance.
 21. The probe card of claim 19, further comprising a source for delivering a test current i to said probes. 